Golf practice mat

ABSTRACT

A golf practice mat including a surface pattern formed by thermally deforming and allowing setting of the deformed mat surface.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional application of U.S. application Ser.No. 12/353,823 filed Jan. 14, 2009. U.S. application Ser. No. 12/353,823and the present application claim priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) toU.S. provisional patent application No. 61/020,947 filed Jan. 14, 2008.

FIELD

The present invention relates to a golf practice mat.

BACKGROUND

Golf practice mats are used by golfers to practice their swings. Manyforms of practice mats are available. In general a golf practice matincludes a surface on which a ball can be placed. Some mats also areextended to include a place for a golfer to stand. The surface generallyis formed to be durable to withstand repeated club strikes and often isformed to simulate a natural ground surface such as short or long grass.

Some mats have been constructed to include surface indications such aslines to assist with stance or club alignment. In other instances, itmay be desirous to place other indications such as advertising indiciaon the mats. However, where a mat seeks to simulate a grass surface,such surface indications are difficult to form uniformly, durably or inan economic fashion.

SUMMARY

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided agolf practice mat comprising: an upper surface formed of thermoformablematerial; and a surface indication in the upper surface formed by heatdeforming the upper surface to assume a deformed shape and allowing theupper surface to set in the deformed shape.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda method for forming a golf practice mat comprising: providing a planarsheet of material including an upper surface, the upper surface formedof a thermoformable material; heating the upper surface substantially tothe melting temperature of the thermoformable material; applying a dieto the upper surface to deform the upper surface in a shapecorresponding to the die; allowing the upper surface to set into theshape; and shaping the shaping the layer of sheet material into a shapefor a golf mat.

It is to be understood that other aspects of the present invention willbecome readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the followingdetailed description, wherein various embodiments of the invention areshown and described by way of illustration. As will be realized, theinvention is capable for other and different embodiments and its severaldetails are capable of modification in various other respects, allwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.Accordingly the drawings and detailed description are to be regarded asillustrative in nature and not as restrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Referring to the drawings, several aspects of the present invention areillustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in detailin the figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a golf practice mat according to oneaspect of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view along line I-I of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF VARIOUS EMBODIMENTS

The description that follows, and the embodiments described therein, areprovided by way of illustration of an example, or examples, ofparticular embodiments of the principles of various aspects of thepresent invention. These examples are provided for the purposes ofexplanation, and not of limitation, of those principles and of theinvention in its various aspects. In the description, similar parts aremarked throughout the specification and the drawings with the samerespective reference numerals. The drawings are not necessarily to scaleand in some instances proportions may have been exaggerated in ordermore clearly to depict certain features.

A golf practise mat may include surface indications formed by thermaldeformation of the material of the mat's upper surface. Such indicationsmay be durable, accurate and economically feasible for mat construction.

A mat may include a layer of sheet material one side of which creates anupper surface for the mat. At least the material of the upper surface isthermally formable such that it can be deformed by melting and, whenallowed to reset after melting and deformation, durably retains thedeformed shape. The upper surface may include foam construction orfibers. For example, in one embodiment, the sheet material may have anupper surface formed of fibers constructed in the form of a carpet withwoven, knit, looped, cut, etc. pile on a backing material or constructedin the form of a brush wherein the fibers are similar to bristlessecured to and extending from a backing material. Such sheet materialsmay be termed as “artificial turf”.

The thermally formable material allows the upper surface of the mat tobe heated to its melting point and shaped by applying pressure to theupper surface. The shape achieved by melting and deformation byapplication of pressure remains when the temperature of the uppersurface falls below the melting point.

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, for example, a mat 10 is shownincluding an upper surface. The upper surface is formed to support agolfer and/or a golf ball. In the illustrated embodiment, mat 10includes an upper surface sized to accommodate both a golfer in a golfstance thereon and a ball, although one or the other may not bepositioned on the mat at all times during use.

As desired, mat 10 may be used (i) alone, (ii) mounted in a frame, (iii)on a selected underlay, (iv) alongside a ball tray, (v) alongside a teeholding area, etc.

While other mat forms may be used, mat 10, in the illustratedembodiment, is formed of an artificial turf material including fibers 12in cut strands and/or loops extending from a backing material 14 thatacts as a more structurally secure portion to retain the fibers of themat. Fiber lengths may vary from mat to mat or within a mat, as desired.The upper surface of the mat is formed by the upper limits of fibers 12.Fibers 12 are formed of thermoformable material such as durablethermoplastics or durable thermosetting polymers. In one embodiment, athermoplastic such as nylon may be useful.

The upper surface of mat 10 includes a surface pattern 16 formed thereinby melting and deforming at least some of fibers 12 and allowing them toreset in the deformed condition. In the illustrated embodiment, thesurface pattern defines a practise aid including a plurality of linesintersecting in a grid useful for stance, swing and/or ball alignment.However, the surface pattern may take other forms such as logos,advertising indicia, other practise aids, etc. Practise aids may includealignment indicia, stance indicia, ball placement indicia, etc. Thesurface pattern may include regions of one depth and one or more regionsof other depths, as desired.

Surface pattern 16, being formed by melting and deforming the matmaterials from their original form, often results in the surface patternbeing indented from the upper surface of the surrounding mat. Of course,it is to be understood that the surface pattern could be formed bymelting and deforming the mat surrounding the surface pattern. Thepresent disclosure would apply in that case, as it is the sameinvention.

As can be seen in the illustrated embodiment, fibers 12 of the matsurrounding surface pattern 16 are upstanding, while those fibers 12 ain the area of surface pattern 16, which were previously similar tofibers 12, are in a condition pushed/bent down, partially removed and/orfused together and/or to backing 14. The surface pattern may have abottom surface having a consistent planar appearance, as shown, orhaving portions that are contoured or raised relative to others butstill below the upper surface of the fibers of the mat surroundingsurface pattern.

Because of the melting and setting action of the fiber treatment, thearea of mat at surface pattern 16 may be stiffened and in some casesstrengthened by the fusion of the fibers. It is noted however, that amat can be weakened if a substantial portion of the backing material isremoved or weakened during the upper surface heat treatment. Thus, caremay be taken to heat treat the mat without overly weakening the backingmaterial. In one embodiment, for example, only a portion of the mat, forexample, only the uppermost tips of the bristles or a selected depth ofbristles 12 are deformed. In one embodiment, the backing material may beformed of a material not meltable to the same extent as the materialdefining the upper surface. For example, the backing material may beformed of a thermoplastic that melts at a temperature higher than thethermoplastic of the fibers. In another embodiment, the heat treatmentis controlled such that only a selected depth of the mat is melted,leaving at least a portion of the backing unmelted. In anotherembodiment, the backing material is selected to also be deformed by theheat treating process but to render it fused into a durable form.

In one method for manufacturing a mat with a thermally formed surfaceindication, a die 18 is formed having an outer surface 18 a in a shapeto resemble, in a mirror image thereof, at least a portion of thesurface pattern. For example, the die surface to be used forthermoforming the mat can be shaped to define all or a part of a logo,advertising indicia or practise aid. The die can be formed of a metal,ceramic, polymer, epoxy or other material that is capable ofwithstanding, being heated or conveying heat of a temperature greaterthan the melting temperature of the material forming the upper surfaceof the mat.

In order to thermally deform the material of the upper surface, thematerial is heated to a temperature above its forming temperature, whichis often considered its melting temperature.

The melting temperatures for thermoformable materials are often wellknow material characteristics and can, in any event, be readilydetermined for example by simple testing or contacting the materialmanufacturer. A temperature may be used wherein the material of theupper surface retains its original form until it has pressure appliedthereto. At such a temperature, the material may become highly viscousbut formable. For example, the strands 12 may retain their shape but canbe deformed to crush and fuse by application of pressure thereto.

In order to reach these temperatures, the sheet material can be placedin an atmosphere with an elevated temperature such that the deformablematerial can increase substantially to the selected melting temperature.For example, the sheet material can be placed in a heating oven at atemperature to bring the material to its forming temperature and the diecan be pressed thereagainst. Alternately, or in addition, the die can beheated, as by heating it directly or driving the die to convey and emittherefrom thermal energy, and placed into contact with the upper surfaceof the mat. In so doing, the upper surface of the mat is heat deformedin a shape which is the reverse of the die's outer surface 18 a shape,both with respect to the surface relief and perimeter shape, of the diesurface. Of course, the rear surface of the sheet material may besupported to hold the sheet material against the pressure of the die.

Thereafter, the heat can be removed to allow the thermally deformed areato cool and thereby set. The heat can be removed by cooling the sheetmaterial (i.e. removing the sheet material from the heated atmosphere),by allowing the die to cool or by removing the hot die from the uppersurface. Time is then permitted for the melted mat material to cool andset in its deformed shape.

As will be appreciated, this surface melting process may be termed mat“branding”.

Care may be taken to select a die, which includes a surface that tendsnot to stick to the material to be melted. This may be by selection ofmaterial, surface coating and/or temperature.

At some point, the sheet material is shaped as by cutting into sizesand/or shapes to be useful as a golf practise mat. For example, thesheet material may be cut into suitable sizes and shapes before, duringor after the thermal treatment to create surface pattern 16. Some usefulsizes may be those sized to accommodate a golfer in a golf stance suchas a 3 to 4 foot length/diameter (0.8 to 1.2 m) polygon or circle.

The mat may be used on its own, or provided with further golf practisemat structures. The mat may be provided with or mounted alongside a golftee holding structure, including an aperture through which a tee or atee holder may be inserted. Alternately, the mat may be mounted on aframe such as may include a ball supply tray.

The previous description of the disclosed embodiments is provided toenable any person skilled in the art to make or use the presentinvention. Various modifications to those embodiments will be readilyapparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles definedherein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from thespirit or scope of the invention. Thus, the present invention is notintended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but is to beaccorded the full scope consistent with the claims, wherein reference toan element in the singular, such as by use of the article “a” or “an” isnot intended to mean “one and only one” unless specifically so stated,but rather “one or more”. All structural and functional equivalents tothe elements of the various embodiments described throughout thedisclosure that are know or later come to be known to those of ordinaryskill in the art are intended to be encompassed by the elements of theclaims. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicatedto the public regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitlyrecited in the claims. No claim element is to be construed under theprovisions of 35 USC 112, sixth paragraph, unless the element isexpressly recited using the phrase “means for” or “step for”.

I claim:
 1. A golf practice mat comprising: an upper surface formed ofthermoformable material and a backing material, the thermoformablematerial including upstanding fibers extending up a height from thebacking material; and a surface indication in the upper surface, thesurface indication including an indentation surrounded by the upstandingfibers, the indentation having a bottom surface recessed relative to theheight of the plurality of upstanding fibers, the bottom surfaceincluding melt-deformed fibers that are: (i) partially removed, (ii)fused together and/or (iii) fused to the backing material, compared tothe upstanding fibers.
 2. The golf practice mat of claim 1 wherein thesurface indication defines at least one of: a logo, an advertisingindicia, and a golf practise aid.
 3. The golf practice mat of claim 1wherein the bottom surface includes a region at first depth extendingdown from a plane defined by the upper surface about the surfaceindication and one or more other regions defining a depth other than thefirst depth.
 4. The golf practice mat of claim 1 wherein the upstandingfibers are bristles and the melt-deformed fibers are melt-deformedbristles.
 5. The golf practice mat of claim 1 wherein the thermoformablematerial includes at least one of a thermoplastic or a thermosetpolymer.
 6. The golf practice mat of claim 1 further comprising a ballsupply tray mounted adjacent the upper surface.
 7. The golf practice matof claim 1 further comprising a golf tee holding structure adjacent theupper surface.
 8. The golf practice mat of claim 7 wherein the golf teeholding structure is an aperture formed adjacent the upper surface. 9.The golf practice mat of claim 7 wherein the golf tee holding structureis an aperture formed through the upper surface.
 10. A golf practice matcomprising: an upper surface including a backing material, upstandingthermoformable plastic fibers connected to the backing material andthermoformable plastic deformed fibers connected to the backingmaterial, the thermoformable plastic deformed fibers having a condition(i) partially removed, (ii) fused together and/or (iii) fused to thebacking material, compared to the upstanding thermoformable plasticfibers; and the thermoformable plastic, deformed fibers being groupedtogether and the upstanding thermoformable plastic fibers being groupedtogether and being positioned adjacent the thermoformable plastic,deformed fibers to define a shape on the upper surface.
 11. The golfpractice mat of claim 10 wherein the shape defines at least one of: alogo, an advertising indicia, and a golf practise aid.
 12. The golfpractice mat of claim 10 wherein the thermoformable plastic, deformedfibers and the upstanding thermoformable plastic fibers each have aheight at which they extend from the backing material and the height ofthe thermoformable plastic, deformed fibers is less than the height ofthe upstanding thermoformable plastic fibers.
 13. The golf practice matof claim 10 wherein the upstanding thermoformable plastic fibers arebristles and the thermoformable plastic, deformed fibers are deformedbristles, compared to the bristles.
 14. The golf practice mat of claim10 further comprising a ball supply tray mounted adjacent the uppersurface.
 15. The golf practice mat of claim 10 further comprising a golftee holding structure adjacent the upper surface.
 16. The golf practicemat of claim 15 wherein the golf tee holding structure is an apertureformed adjacent the upper surface.
 17. The golf practice mat of claim 15wherein the golf tee holding structure is an aperture formed through theupper surface.
 18. The golf practise mat of claim 15 wherein thethermoformable plastic includes at least one of a thermoplastic or athermoset polymer.